ever since i took office, my purpose is to reach a bigger agreement that solves our whole deficit problem and balanced and responsible way. i'll admit that hasn't always been as easy as i hoped it would be. so, instead, we're solving this problem in several steps. >> that's president obama telling supporters and the nation yesterday that the fiscal cliff deal is one piece in the nation's economic puzzle. still ahead, several more rounds of potentially nasty battles over the debt ceiling and government spending and entitlements. this "way too early." thanks for being up early us with. we have a lot of news to talk about this thursday, january 3rd including an update on hillary clinton following that health scare that landed her in the hospital for several days. plus, we'll have a live report from cnbc where the markets sure seem to like the agreement out of washington, d.c., even if a lot of lawmakers there didn't. that's where we're going to

begin with that story. president obama has signed into law the legislation passed by congress to raise tax rates for higher earners, extends tax cuts for middle class and extends unemployment benefits for many americans. the president reviewed a copy of the bill while vacationing in hawaii before directing that it be signed by autopen. that is the signature side board that president uses to sign legislation when they're away from washington. so much for the big bipartisan signing ceremony that many envisioned. back in the capitol, there are several major issues that await the president's return including that big impending fight over the debt ceiling. wednesday the president released a new video explaining his budget strategy going forward. >> just recently republicans in congress said they would never agree to raise tax rates on the wealthiest americans. we now raised those rates permanently.

making our tax code more conclusionive. there is a lot to do when it comes to reducing our debt and i'm willing to do more. as long as it doesn't put the burden on seniors or students or middle class families but wealthier americans need to pay their fair share. >> the debate in washington continues over the fallout from the deal, grover norquist sat down with andrea mitchell yesterday on the "andrea mitchell reports" and insisted that republicans who back the fiscal cliff deal did not vote to raise taxes. >> no republican voted for a tax increase. what happened was obama had this sort of ax over the heads of the american people with a $5 trillion tax increase over the next decade. the republicans are clear. they want the tax cuts extended for everyone. the president is not taking them away from some people. that will hurt the economy. he got his tax increase. but he can't claim republican fingerprints on his tax

increase. >> wait a second. i mean we're not living in the alice in wonder land world here. there is a tax increase for wealthier americans. it's literally a tax increase. >> well -- rates are up. >> what happened yesterday was that all the tax rates went up and then the republicans and congress together took them down for some people, not for everybody. >> so d.c. is still mixed on the new law but wall street seems to love it. the fiscal cliff deal sent the dow soaring yesterday 308 points now that president signed the measure into law. the question is will the rally continue? we're going to take an early look at the markets as we get all up in your business this morning. cnbc's reporter is live for us now across the pond in london. steve? >> yeah, very good day. the question this yesterday was can they continue the rally? my goodness they did in some fashion. the best rally we've had on the s&p 500, the broad brush of u.s. equities since december in 2011. we've had a two-day decline in the vix which is also a very

positive sentiment as well. the s&p 500 now stands at 1462. some of the brokers out there saying, yes, we can go a lot further. we had a previous estimate from deutsche bank of 1508. they now say 1575 year end target for the s&p 500. the rating agencies are still worried about the market. s&p 500 for one is saying government and governance and policy makers are less stable, less effective and less predictable. we believe this characterization still holds and have more concerns about the credit rating of the united states unless we get more deals to come in the coming months. back to you, mark. >> all right. steve, we'll get more deals to come and let you know. thank you. out with the old, in with the new. a fresh chapter begins in washington, d.c., today. the 113th congress is sworn in this morning into office. 82 house freshmen and 12 new senatorsal rife on the heels of what has been the least popular and most unproductive gaggle of legislators in modern history. the numbers don't lie. congress's approval rating last

august was 12% as arizona senator john mccain likes to say that means they're down to the support of just paid staff and close relatives. members passed just 219 bills into law. that is the lowest number dating back to the 1940s. the new congress will be gavelled in at noon followed by a role call vote by 1:00 p.m. john boehner should know if he's re-elected. there is no serious challenge to the ohio republican. he's expected to keep the job despite the recent divisions in the party, most notably the last few days over the fiscal cliff. 'loud the vote to come to the floor and voted for the new measure. mccarthy of california voted against it. the new congress is going to have another issue to deal with in the coming days, the pending hurricane sandy relief. speaker boehner says he's going to put $60 billion worth of disaster relief bills up for a vote starting on friday. that comes after he put off tuesday night's expected vote on the package. that triggered widespread

outreach for many politicians including some of boehner's stellar republicans who represent the hardest hit states. >> we cannot believe that this cruel knife in the back was delivered to our region. >> i think it's inexcusable that we did not have this vote. >> the federal government doesn't have a role in this? absurd. absurd. absolutely absurd. we demand nothing less than we have given the rest of the country, an emergency in disaster means emergency in disaster. >> we've been devastated. and i would hope that the speaker will bring this to the floor as quickly as possible. >> okay. so those guys seem pretty angry. the anti-boehner performance went to new jersey governor chris christie who said he repeatedly tried to call the house speaker late at night after learning that sandy aid vote had been canceled. >> there's only one group to blame for the continued suffering of these innocent victims, the house majority and their speaker, john boehner.

we respond to innocent victims of natural disasters, not as republicans or democrats, but as americans. or at least we did until last night. last night the house of representatives failed that most basic test of public service. and they did so with callous indifference to the suffering of the people of my state. i called the speaker four times last night after 11:20 and did he not take my calls. on a political chess board of internal palace intrigue politics, our people were played last night as a pawn. and that's why people hate washington, d.c. that's why they hate politics. last night it was my party responsible. both parties can take plenty of responsibility over time. but last night my party was responsible for this. new jerseyians and new yorkers are tired of being treated like second class citizens.

66 days and counting, shame on you. shame on congress. this used to be something that was not political. you know, disaster relief was something that you didn't play games with. but now this current atmosphere everything is the subject of one upsmanship and a possibility of potential piece of bait for the political game. and it's just -- it is why the american people hate congress. >> governor christie showing his usual level of passion in part because he spent so much time in the last few weeks with many people who lost everything in the storm. their long wait for emergency assistance amounts to a slow motion disaster as abc's ann thompson reports, the help can't come soon enough. >> reporter: where the reminders of sandy are still all too vivid, us from frustration turned to fury. >> we need funds and we need help. >> reporter: stephanie and elliott are fed up.

they learned their once meticulous home in long beach, new york, is crawling with mold. left by sandy. >> this is mold. >> that's mold? >> yes. >> reporter: facing a $75,000 expense on what they say is the run around from fema and insurers, the house of representatives failure to vote is just one more body blow. >> no matter how together you try to keep it, it's an emotional thing. and then to know that you're not backed by, you know, the country that you live in. >> reporter: the pace of congressional aid is glacial compared to other disasters. when katrina tore through the gulf coast, congress responded with more than $61 billion of aid in just ten days. hurricane ike, 12 days. >> it's a shame and it's a tragedy because they're putting politics before people. >> reporter: on the outside, things are getting better. there is progress. but it's inside where you realize how many people are so very close to the breaking point. and that's where stephanie zuckerman is. >> i guess there's no help.

and nobody cares. it's very traumatizing. >> reporter: their station in this world is damaged. and so is their faith in their government. >> that was nbc news ann thompson reporting. president obama who spoke yesterday with governor christie and governor andrew cuomo of new york released a statement urging the house to pass the aid measures quickly. in other news, secretary of state hillary clinton is back at home after a blood clot in her vein kept her hospitalized for days. secretary clinton left the new york city hospital last night where she's been recovering since sunday. her blood clot stemmed from a concussion she suffered last month after she fainted from dehydration. she is making progress on all fronts and expect her to make a full recovery as she continues to rest and work from home. we wish secretary clinton and her family all the best. today students of sandy hook elementary are set to return to the classroom in a new location. hundreds of students are going to make the transition to a

refurbished school that is six miles away in the town of monroe. desks and furniture were moved into the building and classrooms are re-created to make the transition as easy as possible. there is also going to be a familiar face on hand to help the students. the school's former principal is coming out of retirement to help for an interim period. as for security, officials stla is going to be a heavy and visible police presence in the school. a grim milestone in syria's civil war. a new report from the united nations says more than 60,000 people have died in the uprising, that is far greater number than has been previously thought. the news came hours after devastating attack in damascus suburb. an air strike there from a government fighter jet turned a gas station into an inferno as people were lining up to buy fuel. at least 30 people were killed in that incident. and finally, a deadly incident in los angeles involving a paparazzi for justin

bieber. the pop star himself is speaking out. on tuesday, a friend of bieber was pulled over by police while driving his ferrari, a celebrity photographer who had not yet -- who's not yet been named arrived on the scene to snap photos and accidentally killed by on coming traffic. bieber released a statement saying hopefully this tragedy will inspire meaningful legislation and whatever other necessary steps to protect the lives and safety of celebrities, police officers, innocent public bystanders and the photographers themselves. bieber a popular target of celebrity paparazzi. he was famously involved in a high speed car chase with a photographer. that incident inspired anti-paparazzi legislation which was ultimately overturned by a los angeles judge because it violated first amendment rights. as always, though, you can let us know why you're awake. shoot us an e-mail at

waytooearly@mb mb.com. you can sweet me. we'll read the best responses later in the show. still ahead on "way too early," the sugar bowl wasn't so sweet as the florida gators brought their a game. we'll have the highlights and all the rest of the news in sports. plus, it's been a very rough week for john boehner. and he had some color language reported from senator harry reid in a recent white house visit. jimmy fallon, master of late night, recreates the rest of their bleeping conversation. we'll show that you and get a check on the weather when "way too early" comes right back right here. the truth about mascara is... it clumps.

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covergirl. you're looking live at a motionless tree that, is, of course, the rock center christmas tree still up like most americans we take our time here in taking down the tree. now we transition over to the man who talks about the weather but knows nothing about it, nbc meteorologist bill karins. >> i could do something about it. i would like to work at the cia if i could do something about it. >> fix it. make it five degrees warmer. >> that i can do in the studio, that's it. new england, i'm sure you felt it last night. i'm sure you're burning through the heaters. it is minus 20 in white field. that is in new hampshire. that is the actual temperature. not even the wind chill. this is the coldest winter morning in new england that we've seen this winter. this is much colder than most locations than we saw all last

winter, two. two years since we've been this cold in many spots. glenz falls, new york, minus 15. negative numbers go down to albany. single digits as far south as hartford. the wind chill is not much better. greenville, maine, minus 28. a dangerous morning in new england for the kids. make sure everyone is bundled up this morning and doesn't spend a lot of time out side. warmer in the midwest. it's still cold pretty much across the country. a little light rain in new orleans through the southeast. so the forecast today, very slow and painful warmup in new england. flurries through the great lakes. otherwise, it's a very quiet forecast out there. i'll give you your five-degree warmup in most areas of the east by about friday into saturday. >> five degrees warmer outside. five degrees colder in here. >> i heard stories about. that. >> yeah. >> frigid. >> bill karins, thank you very much. now we go to the part of the program where i unleash my inner george michael. sports, college football bowl season rolled on last night. florida and louisville in the sugar bowl. first play, gators opening

drive. quarterback's pass gets tipped and picked off by louisville's floyd. he returns it for the pick six early cardinals lead. we go to the fourth quarter. gators and red zone trying to get back in it. dr driskel throws another interception. they bring it back. coming into last night's game, driskel had thrown three interceptions all year but had two last night. two minutes left now. florida trying to get the ball back after a score. onside kick doesn't work. louisville recovers. cardinals win it 33-23. the big one coming up monday night, of course, the national championship alabama and crimson side and notre dame fighting irish, they touched down in south florida yesterday ahead of monday's bcs title game. alabama head coach a homecoming of sorts. he was the head coach as you all know of the miami dolphins in 2005 and 2006 before going to alabama. crimson tide are now looking to win their third national title in just four years.

the fighting irish, of course, once a dominant football program hasn't won a title since 1988. all right. a little nba action. oklahoma city, the thunder hosting our own brooklyn nets. we start in the second quarter. brooklyn's williams, he sinks a long three. puts the nets up by 21 on the road. in the fourth quarter now, the thunder are inbounding, kevin durant argues a foul call. he racks up not one, two technical fouls. he gets thrown out. first time in his entire career the guy's been thrown out. the nets on the road win it 110-93. it's a good way to do news. they own the best record in the eastern conference, the miami heat. the heat facing off against the dallas mavericks in the second quarter. lebron james, king of all things, calmly gets a turnover. goes down. through the defense. james scores.

he finishes 32 points. one assist shy of a triple-double. takes over the game in overtime. he dishes ball over to shawn battier. >> the heat win the game in ot. 119 119-109. >> not on the air. >> coming up at the top of the hour on "morning joe," joe and nika are off today. they're not here. out with the old, in with the new. the 113th congress gafld in today. will john boehner's path to the speakership be smooth? we'll discuss that everybody on the "morning joe" team when we come back here, we're going to huddle around the water cool we are lewis. do you know lewis? >> oh, god. are you letting him do that? >> there is a parent who teaches a child a harsh lesson about ebay accounts and credit cards. i have no idea what that means. all right. when we come back, the transition very smooth as always between "way too early" and "morning joe" will commence and continue. l matters? maybe you want to incorporate a business.

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all right. for those of you overdosed on real news, we're going to gather ran the water cooler with lewis. lewis, i wait for this moment every day like my first cup of diet coke. what do you got for us? >> so nice that joe helped you out before. >> they're a giving group. >> very loving. yeah. well, some parents love getting back at their kids.

i know mine did. but now youtube makes it so much easier. one mom hits record on the iphone and tells her 8-year-old son that he accidentally bought a $50,000 ford mustang on ebay. watch his reaction. >> why did you buy that $50,000 car on ebay. >> i didn't. >> you did. >> i did? can we cancel it? >> it won't cancel it. you hit buy. >> is that true? did i? >> i'm afraid so. >> we're going to have to sell everything. this is horrible. >> what kind of car was it? >> it was a mustang. i didn't mean to buy it. i was just looking at it. i tried to exit it out, it bought it. i didn't mean to. >> hey, bub. you didn't buy it. >> okay. >> you didn't buy it. >> oh.

>> that is just cruel. i mean, mark, do your parents ever do anything like that to you? >> lewis, believe it or not, when i was that kid's age, there was no youtube. >> i believe that, don't worry. let's move on here. congress reached a deal on the fiscal cliff. we know that. as you know, not everyone is getting along in washington, especially republican speaker of the house john boehner and democratic senate majority leader harry reid. he told him to go bleep himself. reid laughed it off but the conversation continued on, got pretty heated. boehner's office is not giving any more details on the exchange but jimmy fallon offered his take on how the rest of the conversation went. >> it got really heated. and we can't print what was actually said but i think you can probably guess. take a look at this. >> i don't understand why would i want to. [ beep ] myself? and boehner said, you know what the [ beep ]

i'm talking about. can you cram that up your [ bleep ] and reid said, wait, how would i even [ bleep ] my [ bleep ] up my own [ bleep ] i don't know, just break night a [ bleep ] shape and ram it. reid said but that would [ bleeping ] hurt. >> "morning joe" is minutes away. nt. to prove febreze can keep this car fresh, we loaded it with fast food, sweaty hockey gear, and a smelly dog cage. and parked it at a mall. in texas. for two days. then put a febreze car vent clip on the dash and let in real people. it smells good. like laundry fresh out of like the dryer.

yeah. a man fresh out of the shower. nailed it. oh yeah. proof. febreze car vent clips keep your car fresh. another way febreze helps you breathe happy.